goby

1 of 2

noun

go·​by ˈgō-bē 

plural gobies also goby

: any of numerous spiny-finned fishes (family Gobiidae) that usually have the pelvic fins united to form a ventral sucking disk

Illustration of goby

go by

2 of 2

verb

went by; gone by; going by; goes by

intransitive verb

: pass sense 3b

as time goes by

transitive verb

1

a

: to be guided or directed by : act in accordance with

going by the rules

went by what we'd been told

b

: to form an opinion from

You can't go by appearances.

2

: to be known by (a name)

goes by her birth name

goes by an alias

3

: to go (somewhere) especially to see someone

I went by your house yesterday.

Examples of goby in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Depending on the day, the menu may include fresh marble goby fish from the Mekong River, served with vermicelli and a light soy sauce, or lobster sour soup with lemongrass. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026

Even within bull sharks themselves, variation continues as males and females showed differences in diet, with females more likely to consume prey like jacks and ladyfish and males were eating a higher number of gobies. —Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2026

Verb

Any day of the week, gather around a table at a tapas bar terrace, eat caracoles, let the hours go by, share the small moments that make up our lives. —Miguel MacIas, NPR, 13 May 2026

The shooting happened as Dalton Eatherly, who goes by Chud the Builder online, and the man were outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, the Tennessee District Attorney General’s Office said. —Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 13 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Latin gobius gudgeon, from Greek kōbios

First Known Use

Noun

1769, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1508, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

goby

noun

go·​by ˈgō-bē 

plural gobies also goby

: any of numerous spiny-finned fishes that often have the pelvic fins united to form a sucking disk